Fidelia Fisk (also known as Fidelia Fiske; 1 May 1816 – 9 August 1864) was an American Congregationalist missionary and teacher. She founded the Fiske Seminary boarding school in

Urmia Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an alt ...

in West Azerbaijan Province,

Qajar Iran Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

Early life

Fidelia Fisk was born 1 May 1816 in

Shelburne, Massachusetts Shelburne is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,884 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village of Shelburne Falls is located partly in Sh ...

. Her uncle

Pliny Fisk Pliny Fisk (born in Shelburne, Massachusetts, 24 June 1792; died in Beirut, Syria, 23 October 1825) was an American Congregationalist missionary to Europe and the Middle East. Biography He graduated from Middlebury College in 1814, and from Andove ...

was also a noted missionary. She graduated from

Mount Holyoke Seminary Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

in 1839, and subsequently taught there. She had worked very closely with

Mary Lyon Mary Mason Lyon (; February 28, 1797 – March 5, 1849) was an American pioneer in women's education. She established the Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts, (now Wheaton College) in 1834. She then established Mount Holyoke Femal ...

, whom she considered as close as family.

In Qajar Iran

In 1843, she resigned her post at Mount Holyoke Seminary and went to Qajar Iran as a missionary among the Christian Assyrians (who were once called "

Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...

s" by Americans during the late 18th century, but is now an outdated term). Fisk had been recruited for the job by missionary

Justin Perkins Justin Perkins (March 5, 1805 – December 31, 1869) was an American Presbyterian missionary and linguist. He was the first citizen of the United States to reside in Iran (formally Qajar Iran). He became known for his work among the people there ...

to continue the work of Judith Grant, the wife of missionary

Asahel Grant Asahel Grant (August 17, 1807 – April 24, 1844) was one of the first American missionaries to Iran. Asahel Grant was born at Marshall, New York, studied medicine at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and practiced in Utica, New York. In 1835 he went ...

. The

Assyrian Church of the East The Assyrian Church of the East,, ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية sometimes called Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,; ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية الرسول� ...

of Urmia and

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Mar Yohannan, wanted literacy and education for women and Fisk had a leadership role in this goal. She had begun her work as a day schoolteacher for girls within Urmia Seminary, and was the first principal there.

Fiske Seminary

She worked towards modeled her new boarding school after Mount Holyoke Seminary. She opened the Fiske Seminary in 1843. Fisk had labored in Iran for fifteen years, much of the time as teacher in a female seminary, she also served as a nurse and extended social support for some of her students. By her last year in Urmia 1858, she had some 40 students. It was upon her leaving the school was named "Fiske Seminary".

Late life and death

In 1858, she returned to the United States with broken health, with the idea she would eventually return when she was healthy to do so. After her departure from Urmia, Nancy Jane Dean replaced her at the Fiske Seminary. Fisk was never able to return to Iran. She died on 9 August 1864. At the time of her death, she was engaged in writing ''Recollections of Mary Lyon'' (Boston, 1866).

Publications

* * * *

References

* This work in turn cites a memoir of Fisk, by the Rev. Daniel T. Fiske, D. D., entitled ''Faith working by Love'' (1868). * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fisk, Fidelia 1816 births 1864 deaths American Congregationalist missionaries Mount Holyoke College alumni Congregationalist missionaries in Iran American expatriates in Iran Female Christian missionaries People from Shelburne, Massachusetts